Hello everyone and welcome back to another issue of Retrogaming Times
Monthly. We did not get a guest editorial submission from anyone this
month, but our own Alan Hewston has found a wonderful discovery that
he'd
like to share with you all.

I'm swamped again and so I have no review this month. But
here is a great interview on the TV show "Collect This" of fellow
collector and player Joe "Digital Press" Santulli. He's a great guy and
I'm glad that he is representing us gamers and collectors in this TV
special.

Staff writer Alan Hewston used to be a major contributor here. He's not
burned out on classic games, just spending lots more time with family
playing strategy board/tabletop games. His family now has a Wii, so his
children, Timmy and Samantha love it, but his wife Kathy probably
enjoys it the most.

Definitely an interesting watch. I certainly would have enjoyed if they
gave him a little more time to
talk about his collection.

Another heads up to all of you Xbox 360 owners; Two new Neo Retro
releases came out last month and
both are quite outstanding. There's Galaga Legions, and there's Bionic
Commando: Rearmed. Galaga Legions
is a fast paced shooter that definitely captures the spirit of the
original Galaga, but puts a fresh
spin on it. Bionic Commando: Rearmed is a love letter to the original
Bionic Commando that appeared
on the NES way back in the 80s, and it brings the original levels,
abilities, and enemies screaming into
the 21st century. If you enjoyed playing the original game at all, you
owe it to yourself to pick up
BC: Rearmed ASAP.

During the golden age of the arcade one
of the most important themes of game design was variety. If you
were
creating a game that was based around a concept yet not previously
created
then it was more than likely approved and produced. On the other
hand it became nearly taboo to create a game similar to a title that
already
existed, unless you were cloning a rival company's blockbuster of
course.
Indeed, variety was truly the spice of life in the early 1980's but
Gyruss
would go a different route to establish its own uniqueness. A
year
after designing Time Pilot, a classic in its own right, Yoshiki Okamoto
created Gyruss for Konami. A shooter in the truest sense, Gyruss
borrowed elements from two of the greatest arcade video games of all
time
- Tempest and Galaga. Imagine taking the vertically oriented
gameplay
of Galaga and wrapping it around a cylinder with an open center like
the
basic playfield in Tempest. Stars quickly scroll by from the
center
of the screen to the edges where the player's ship rotates around the
perimeter,
shooting toward the center. Enemy ships swarm in from the sides
before
flying off into the deep space in the center of the screen and settling
into circular formations. After formed up, the enemy ships break
off and charge back up toward the player, attacking both with laser
shots
as well as kamikaze maneuvers any Galaga player will be quite familiar
with. Each completed wave brings the player closer to the next
planet,
beginning two warps away from Neptune and ending once reaching
Earth.
After each planet is reached a "Challenge Stage" begins, which is again
very similar to the "Challenging Stages" found in Galaga. After
reaching
Neptune for the first time, all planets lie three warps apart,
including
the wrap around to Neptune after reaching Earth.

The NES port of Gyruss is one of those
odd rarities where a retrogaming console port was actually designed to
surpass and enhance the original arcade title. However Gyruss on
the NES doesn't throw away anything from the original version, rather
it
increases the variety of gameplay, reestablishes the core game
functions
and pumps up the audio to insane levels. Let's start out with
what
remains the same - the basic gameplay. Although arcade Gyruss
used
a vertical monitor nothing is lost on the standard horizontal display
of
the NES version. This is because of the circular playfield, it's
pretty much exactly the same regardless of the screen
orientation.
Stars stream from the center of the screen toward the edges and the
sensation
of speed is exactly as it was in the arcade. Enemies start on the
outside, head into the distance and then charge the player just as they
originally did as well. The double fire powerup is present and is
obtained just as before, by shooting the capsule enemy that appears
between
the pod enemies on the outer boundary. That's about where the
similarities
end with everything else getting, at the very least, a slight
enhancement.

Ship movement from the joystick is replicated
exactly to the directional pad although an alternate control setting is
also made available. The player's ship in Gyruss is controlled by
swirling the joystick in the direction one would like the ship to move,
based upon its current location in the outer circle. Imagine a
clock
face with a joystick in the center. If you move the joystick up
the
ship moves to 12 o'clock. If you move the joystick down the ship
rotates around the clock face to 6 o'clock. If you move the
joystick
in the direction of 3 o'clock the ship travels around the clock face to
that point. Now replace the clock face with a circular star field
and you have Gyruss. In this way joystick movements are often at
the edge of the joystick throw for the entire game, think Tempest with
a joystick. A spinner would make more sense to a lot of people
but
I've always thought the joystick was in place to make the game feel
more
accessible. Still, I always did feel bad for the maintenance
technicians
that would have to service the joystick leaf switches on the Gyruss
machines.
The standard control method on the NES is the same as it was in the
arcade
while the alternate setting more closely replicates how a spinner would
provide input. The secondary control method changes ship movement
to left and right on the directional pad. Left sends the ship
around
clockwise while right sends it around counterclockwise. If you
can
get used to it I'm sure the alternate controls are very fluid but I
tend
to stick with the original setting. Shame the Vaus paddle
controller
bundled with Arkanoid doesn't work here!

Graphically things take a slightly different
approach. Originally the enemy ships had a lot of rotation to
them:
the tail ends being show as they flew toward the center, rotating side
views as they spiraled back up the star field and head-on when they
were
changing direction. Although there is plenty of scaling for
perspective
in the NES version, the enemy ships always face one direction.
Nice
graphic detail and a variety of colors make up for their static
sprites,
so they still seen very fast moving and fluid. Yet the biggest
changes
come in the form of gameplay tweaks starting with how each stage is
structured.
The formula of three warps per planet is maintained but instead of
featuring
a quick run from Neptune to Earth, Gyruss on the NES traverses the
entire
solar system from Neptune to the Sun. The first warp between each
destination plays out much as it did in the arcade, with waves of
enemies
and other debris that must be destroyed or negotiated. The second
warp adds four small mini bosses to the center of the screen which
slowly
move in a circular fashion. Standard enemies and debris still
populate
these stages and it can become difficult keeping track of them since
the
mini bosses block the center of the star field. Once the mini
bosses
and any other enemies are destroyed the warp is completed. The
third
warp begins much as the first one did with standard enemies appearing
in
formation. However after they are all taken care of the music
goes
down and changes as a planet specific boss appears. Most bosses
are
large pods that remain in the center of the screen, attacking with
small
appendages which must be blown off. The most challenging bosses
are
those that move about the screen and require careful timing and
strategy
to defeat. Even the most veteran Gyruss player will find these
bosses
to be quite a challenge. After the boss is completed the next
planet
is reached, followed by a rework of the Challenge Stage. The
bonus
rounds play almost exactly as they originally did, however shooting
enemies
that are of different color than the majority of the formation will
cause
bonus capsules to appear. These contain a number of powerups,
many
of which are new to the game.

While the double fire powerup is obtained
in the same way and functions as it did in the arcade, the NES port
features
a couple new enhancements for your trip across the solar system.
Without a doubt the biggest change is the addition of special bombs
that
work like a super powerful shot. These are picked up by shooting
open special capsules, same as how double fire is gained. There
are
also capsules that add bonus points and those that destroy all enemies
on the screen once shot open. 1up capsules also make appearances
rarely, which unsurprisingly grant the player an extra ship if you can
hit them. The bombs come in handy for making quick work of the
bosses
but don't expect to blow through them with your increased fire
power.
If anything it feels as if the game was designed to simply give you a
fighting
chance, even with the increased arsenal.

Music is almost as big a part of Gyruss
as the gameplay, it's one of those things the game has always been
remembered
for. The familiar rock remix of Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata
and
Fugue in D minor plays in the background although it is enhanced over
the
arcade version. The NES sound hardware really shows its strength
here, creating a soundtrack that in my opinion is every bit as
memorable
as Life Force, Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda. It
doesn't
just stop at a remix of the arcade music however. Since each warp
has a different objective on the NES, each warp has a different musical
track. The mini boss warps have their own music, boss battles
have
an epic tune that fades up as they appear while the standard stage
music
fades down, you can tell Konami went all out with this port. The
music almost makes the game feel like a circular version of Gradius,
it's
that effective.

As I mentioned last month in my California
Extreme show report, I love Gyruss, enough to want to own the full size
arcade upright. It's obvious those who worked on the NES port
loved
the game as well. The NES version was adapted from a Japan only
Famicom
Disk System port, the only big difference being the ending
sequence.
As usual the Japanese release features a full ending sequence while the
NES release only has an ending screen. Don't let that push you
away
from owning the NES version, the gameplay is what is important
here.
Gyruss rises from simply being an excellent port of an arcade
masterpiece
to becoming an amazing NES game in its own right. It's a title
that
seems to have always been passed over in the wake of other, more
popular
games, both in the arcade and on the NES. Gyruss on the NES is a
classic arcade shooter fan's dream come true. It's so full of
content,
refinements, enhancements and perfect gameplay that it should be
recalled
as one of the greatest NES shooters ever released. Without a
doubt
it is and has always been one of my favorite games on the platform and
a spectacular arcade reimagining.

PERSONAL UPDATE
This is going to be a bit of a long column. I originally was going to
do two separate columns, but instead I will combine them all into one.
As I write this, it is the day after Labor Day. It was a long weekend
as I hung out with friends and family. I played basketball, badminton,
golf, and Rock Band along with going to a BBQ.

The biggest news for me is that after two months of not working, I was
offered a job about two weeks ago. I accepted the offer and began work
last Monday (08/25/08). I actually spent my first day traveling to my
company's corporate headquarters in Sterling, VA (near Washington DC).
I spent about 2 1/2 days in Sterling for new hire orientation and
training. I returned back to the Bay Area Thursday night and made a
brief appearance at my regular office Friday.

For those who are curious, my new job will as a Sales Engineer. I will
be providing pre and post sales support for my company's DNS Services.
In looking back, while being laid off was a tough experience,
everything worked out in the end. I landed a good job with a company
that is trying to grow. I got a raise and the commute is shorter. I am
excited by the opportunity.

THE WORLD OF THE APPLE II TODAY - Part 2
This month, I will continue on with a look at some of the resources
available for the Apple II.

A2Central.com
A2-Central was a newsletter (originally known as Open-Apple until 1988)
that was published from 1985 until 1995. The a2central.com website has
nothing to do with the original newsletter in any way. However, the
website has becomd a popular destination for all news and notes related
to the Apple II community. True to the name of the site, a2central.com
has been the center of the Apple II community as it still exists today.
The news section is constantly updated and there are links to all major
Apple II website still in existence. The site is a valuable resource
for all Apple II fans.

Syndicomm.com
The Apple II line of computers has been out of the public eye for many
years now. However, thanks to the efforts of many in the Apple II
community, there are still a few companies that still Apple II products
to the public. One of the longest running companies is Syndicomm. The
company started out providing message board and forums for various
systems in addition to the Apple II store. Several years ago, the owner
Eric Shepherd, who runs Syndicomm as a part time business, decided to
focus his efforts solely on the store instead. These days, Syndicomm
sells various Apple II (and some Macintosh) products like software,
books, periodicals and hardware. FOr those who still have an interest
in the Apple II, Syndicomm is sure to have something for you.

Virtual Apple 2 - Online Disk
Archive
As this is a game newsletter, I guess I have to mention this site. For
many people who want to enjoy retrogames of yesteryear, they have to
rely on the compliations released by companies or through emulators. A
few folks might actually still have the original systems around.

For the Apple II, emulators have been around for many years. One of the
most popular (and the one I still use) is AppleWin for Windows based
machines. The interface is simple and you just need to have the disk
images available to run your favorite Apple II programs.

However, a developer in the Apple II community (I can't remember the
name right now) decided to make an online Apple II emulator that was
accessible through the Internet called Virtual Apple. The site
originally worked with Internet Explorer (because it used an Active X
extension), but now has been designed to work with Firefox as well.

Using the site is as simple as pointing and clicking at a game and
waiting for it to load. In a brief moment, your favorite Apple II game
of yesteryear will be booted and ready for you to play. It is one of
the best things the Apple II community has ever had. Even if you're not
an Apple II fan, it's worth checking out for nostaglic value.

SUMMER GAMES
All polictics aside, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China has
come and gone. By many accounts, China put on a spectacular show
especially with the opening and closing ceremonies. The United States
won the overall medal count while China won the gold medal count.
Michael Phelps set a record with eight gold medals and Usain Bolt was
as fast as lightning with his spectacular running.

To commerate the recently passed Olympics, I re-visited the game summer
Olympics by Epyx. Produced by Epyx in 1984, presumably in anticipation
of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the game was a big hit and
spawned a sequel as well as several other similiar games.

I don't remember exactly when I first played Summer Games, but I
believe it was after the 1984 Summer Olympics. My experience with the
game was very limited. The reason then (and even more so now) was that
the game play wasn't very exciting. Plus with the exception of the 100M
dash and the Platform diving events, I had little or no interest in the
other events.

Also, trying to figure out the mechanics of the using joysticks and
buttons to perform some of the events were a frustrating for me. But in
the end, I think the game might have been a little too much for the
graphics capabilities of the Apple (especially for the high speed
events like the 100M dash). The other events which had less going on
fared better. Other computers with better graphics and sound
capabilities presumably played better overall than the Apple II.

I don't recall seeing any Olympic type Video Games in recent years but
with all the graphics and sound capabilities with today's machines, I
would like to see someone revisit the concept of Summer Games.

This month marks a bit of return to form with the original NES Realm.
Due to time constraints, I haven't been able to keep up my blog writing
so I had to keep these short. The Game Archaeologist may yet return.

King Kong 2 published by Konami on December 18th 1986 Until Donkey Kong Country came around, there weren't too many games
that let you play as a gigantic ape, but Konami saw fit to fill this
niche in 1986. The game is played in a top-down perspective. You can
walk or bound across the screen, and you can punch with your giant
meat-hooks, or throw huge boulders at your enemies. The premise is that
you must rescue lady Kong from capture, and in order to do so, you must
find and collect eight different keys from eight different "worlds,"
which are guarded by a different boss. Travel between worlds occurs by
way of warp zones that connect one world to another, or several others.
Each world has a different premise, like army world, night life world,
jungle world, etc., and they are all arranged in Zelda dungeon like
fashion, albeit with some non-linear arrangements. In addition to the
keys, you can search for power-ups that increase your speed, strength,
or life points. Finding these power ups becomes somewhat essential
because the intensity of the enemy attacks pick up quite a bit in the
later worlds. The final ninth world contains a few tricks such as
hidden passageways that must be discovered in order to find the room to
the final boss which blocks access to the cell where Lady Kong is held.

Wing of Madoola published by SunSoft on December 18th 1986 Back in it's day, Metroid was heralded as a fairly progressive game
just for revealing the secret that the hero you played as was a woman
all along. In contrast, Wing of Madoola presented the player as a woman
up front the entire time. You play as a red-headed warrior whose
mission was to rescue a kingdom by retrieving the Wing of Madoola from
a malevolant would-be tyrant. The game is predominantly side scrolling,
although there are a few vertically scrolling sections as well. The
game is divided into 16 stages, many of which contain a number of items
for players to collect, including magic items which expand your
arsenal. Earlier stages can be revisited in case essential items were
missed earlier along the way. Strong opponents are first introduced as
early stage bosses, but are presented to the player as regular enemies
in later stages. While the early stages start out quite small and
linear, later stages are elaborate mazes with warp doors that take the
player to different locations that are difficult to discern from one
another. Management of health points and magic points becomes essential
to beating the game, as there is a stretch of stages where health
cannot be restored for quite some time. The action moves fairly
quickly, but so do the enemies, which have a draining effect on the
player's health, so it's important not to stick around when you're
getting attacked.

Deep Dungeon published by Humming Bird Soft on December 19th 1986 Some people feel that if you've seen one dungeon crawler, you've seen
them all. There isn't a tremendous amount the sets Deep Dungeon apart
from other early dungeon crawlers, but it's still an impressive
accomplishment for a Famicom game. Deep Dungeon is played across eight
levels, with typical RPG elements such as earning XP from fights to
increase in levels, and collecting Gold to obtain better equipment. The
interesting thing is that some of the levels contain "boss fights"
where your enemy is in the form of discarded weapons and armor of the
previous hero who attempted to rescue the kingdom before you. You must
engage in fights with this equipment, and when you succeed, you become
capable of utilizing them, and they represent the best available form
of that equipment type. Each level contains a unique set of enemies.
Gold is largely obtained by searching through trash, and trash
reinitializes itself every time you leave and return to a level,
allowing you to collect unlimited amount of treasure, provided you have
the patience to routinely search through the trash. Limited stat
maximums ensure that the game remains fairly challenging all the way up
to the end.

Kid Icarus published by Nintendo on December 19th 1986 There's something so endearing about this game, that is has remained a
cult favorite of many NES players throughout history. The inclusion of
Pit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, the third and latest
version of the fighting series, was met with great appreciation. What
was it about this game that appealed so strongly to certain players? It
could have been the detailed animation (for it's time,) the colorful
and imaginative enemies that sometimes, but not always, fit into the
greek mythological theme, or it could have been the wide array of
power-ups that could be collected throughout the game. One reviewer
wrote in a Nintendo Power magazine that Kid Icarus was a combination of
several great games; Pit could jump like Mario, shoot like Samus, and
collect treasure like Link. Surprsingly, Kid Icarus did not enjoy as
huge a reception in Japan. Released as a Famicom Disk System game, it
did not seem to make as large an impression on the playing populace
there. In fact, the black and white sequel which appeared on the Game
Boy wasn't even released in Japan. Whatever the reason was, Kid Icarus
still stands up to the tests of time as a fun and enjoyable game, and a
worthy inclusion on the Wii Virtual Console.

Layla published by Db Soft on December 20th 1986 This months reviews contain, not one, but two games featuring females,
the second one being Layla. Unlike Wing of Madoola, Layla is a
futuristic sci-fi shooter, where you must race through eight fortresses
located on eight asteroids, shooting and firing various weapons at any
enemies which get in your way. The goal of the game is to recover eight
password disks, each of which is hidden somewhere on each asteroid, and
rescue Layla's sidekick Iris. When Iris is rescued, she joins the fight
by running and shooting at your side, doubling your firepower, but also
doubling your ammo consumption. The game a billed as a Maze Action
game, with the emphasis on finding your way through the increasingly
complex asteroid fortresses. Without maps to guide you through each
fortress, you must rely on your mapping skills as well as your memory
to piece together the jumbled arrangement of hallways and elevators
which do not always properly line up. You have access to a large number
of weapons, some of which are more useful than others at various points
in the game. Ammunition and powerups are obtained by destroyign crates
and collecting the weapon icons found inside. Each fortress has a boss
which must be defeated before moving on to the next asteroid, and
entering a brief Galaga-like bonus round where you must attempt to
shoot down entire groups of enemies for extra points.

Following
upon the review of the first Midway Arcade Treasures collection last
month, this month we will cover volumes 2 and 3. As there is a great
deal of similarity between these collections, it makes sense to combine
them into a single review.

Volume 2 was released in 2004. It includes 20 classic arcade games,
originally released between 1981 and 1994. It was followed the next
year by Volume 3.

Volume 2 was very hard to find for sale locally; I eventually purchased
it from an online retailer. It includes several sequels to games that
were included in volume 1, such as Gauntlet II, Rampage World Tour, and
Total Carnage (sequel to Smash TV) as well as some titles that are
arguably not classics including APB, Pit Fighter, and Timber. Some
early games, e.g. Wacko, are fun for only a very few minutes. Oddly the
collection includes Mortal Combat II and 3, but not the original game.
As with Volume 1, several Atari titles are included.

The emulation is very good, for the most part. Wizard of Wor runs way
too fast and so it is nearly unplayable. The rotate controls on Xybots
were originally handled by a special joystick; these functions have
been mapped to the shoulder buttons on the PS 2 controller. This very
odd control scheme makes the game more difficult than the original.
Otherwise the default controller set-up/mapping works well.

Extras include brief historical notes/credits for the games, an image
gallery showing arcade flyers and other advertising material, and some
video clips of interviews with developers and programmers. The sound
quality on these video clips is not good; it sounds muffled. The
overall interface to the collection is “cleaner” and easier to navigate
than with Volume 1. Overall, the collection is good, but it is not as
strong as Volume 1.

Volume 3 includes only 8 game, all various types of racing games
released between 1989 and 2000. It is both very easy to find and
relatively inexpensive.

Like the previous two volumes, this collection includes some Atari
titles such as Badlands and Race Drivin’ (which is a sequel to Hard
Drivin’, included in Volume 2). The interface and extras are comparable
to Volume 2. I was surprised to see that the PlayStation 2 has the
capacity to emulate a game as recent as Offroad Thunder; this was only
released in 2000.

My favourite game in this collection is S.T.U.N. Runner, though that
game was much more fun on the specialized arcade hardware. (For those
that never had the experience, the arcade console was shaped like a
futuristic motorcycle and the player rode upon it leaning forward
towards the monitor).

Volume 3 is, however, the weakest collection of retrogames in the
series, and it is definitely one of the poorest arcade compilations
available for the PS 2. Obviously the designers were running out of
classic-era games to include. I can only recommend this title to fans
of a specific game or hard-core collectors who want to have the whole
series.

Next month, we will review another collection of classic arcade games
for the PS 2. Feedback on this column is always welcome; please send
any comments and/or questions to jhd@interbaun.com.

Welcome back to “Who’d Win?”, last month I covered to great side
scrolling beat em ups for the NES. This month I’ll be looking at two
brawlers that aren’t so great for the ill-fated Sega Master System.
Altered Beast, and Golden Axe. Two games there were huge smash hits in
the arcades! They both were ported to the Genesis with great success,
but the Master System ports left a lot to be desired. But even losers
can be winners, so let us see which of these two bad ports, is the
better one!

The sights:

Graphically they are both decently done considering that they are 8bit
ports of 16bit titles. Both games feature pretty good sized character
and enemy sprites, and the background art isn’t half bad either! But
those screenshots don’t tell the whole story! In motion Altered Beast
falls apart, like one of the zombies the game’s hero punches! It’s full
of sprite flickering, it’s slow, the motions are very stiff, and some
sprites are MISSING! You’ll get confused by the wolves, the white ones
share some sprites with the brown ones. Sometimes you don’t know which
kind you are hitting! One of the hero’s “buffed” transforms is missing
as well! The farther you go, the more of a mess it looks! The Boss
battles take place against a completely blank background! Golden Axe on
the other hand manages to do a very workable job! It’ss far less
choppy, and there is less flickering. The motions are smoother, even
the magic attacks are animated very well! It is obvious that some
frames of animation are missing, but when it comes to graphic goodness
even on the SMS Golden Axe is just as pretty as the name sounds!

The sounds:

Master System was capable of some good sounds, even some digitized
speech as Altered Beast illustrates. Both games reproduce the arcade
tunes fairly well, and the sound effects are also well done considering
this is an 8bit system! As poorly as Altered Beast did on the graphics,
they did a very good job with the sound! That extra mile by adding the
digitized samples deserve some special notice. But I feel that the
inclusion of those samples are why the visuals took such a hit. Despite
Golden Axe’s tunes being a bit catchier, Altered Beast is gonna get the
last growl in!

The substance:

Keep in mind these are ports of arcade games, so some stuff is missing
from both! In Golden Axe you can only play as the Barbarian. They try
to make up for it by letting you choose from the three magics, but
Golden Axe without the all three characters just isn’t the same!
However the gameplay is just about right despite that omission, even
the imp kicking mini-game is still in there. Best of all is the fact
that none of the levels are missing! Sega really did a bang up job on
this port! I really wonder why that game plays so well, while Altered
Beast is just awful! It really is a beast! The controls aren’t all that
responsive, and when you move the game just kinda scoots your character
across the screen. As mentioned before, the middle transformation is
missing. Unfortunately that wasn’t the only thing that this game lost
in translation! Some levels are missing. And at least one beast is
substituted. Another huge flaw in this one is collision detection. You
aren’t really sure if all of your blows are even going to connect! What
makes it so sad is that they were done by the same development team!
Why they could better translate an 8-way beat-em-up that uses more
advanced tech, is really beyond me! Golden Axe chops Altered beast down
once again!

The boxart:

As we all know Master System carts don’t have cartridge art, it’s just
a plain little label, so we’ll be looking at the box art for these two
games instead! Right off the bat you will notice that there is more
going on with the Altered Beast box art! It looks all mystical, and a
little bit spooky! You got a mood setter right there! Golden Axe’s box
isn’t as exciting, looks a bit like a Fabio novel cover to be
honest…maybe if he was actually fighting that skeleton hoard behind
him, or that dragon. Altered Beast takes a bite out of Golden Axe when
it comes to the box, but as we all know it’s what’s on the inside that
counts.

Who'd win?

It amazes me that Sega chose Altered Beast as a pack-in title for the
Master System, it is such a poorly done conversion! If you ask me they
should have packed Golden Axe! It looks better, and more importantly it
plays better! Digitized sounds and a pretty box won’t save Altered
Beast from the executioner’s hatchet this day, I say off with its head!
Golden Axe comes out on top, and fights on! If you want a good brawler
on the Master System, you’ll do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of
Golden Axe and grab the Control stick accessory while you’re at it!
It’s more fun that way! It adds an extra bit of arcade feel to it! Next
month I’m doing something a little weird! I’ll be heading back to the
NES for Tetris vs Tetris? No, that isn’t a typo! I’ll be taking a look
at Tengen’s version and Nintendo’s version of the game. Will the two
different versions be very similar? Or are there some noticeable
differences? Tune in next month to find out! Same VS time, Same VS
channel!

I love the old days of 8-bit computing. I knew that I’d grow up to be a
software programmer ever since I got my Odyssey2 for Christmas in 1980.
I remember reading an Odyssey2 fan club magazine article about the guy
behind almost every Odyssey2 game ever written (well, at least 24 of
them) Ed Averett. One day a friend and I used the O2 Computer Intro
cartridge to write a small Assembler program that consisted of a
standard blocky Odyssey2 man graphic walking across the screen from
right to left. To our horror after several hours of programming, we
realized that there was no way to save our work! Oh well, over the
years
I kept up my computer programming skills as I first learned how to
program in BASIC on the Radio Shack TRS-80, then while in the Navy I
purchased a Commodore 64 where I continued to hone my BASIC programming
skills. After many years in the private sector as an electronics
technician, I started coding again, and have been a professional
programmer ever since. Like most programmers, my career isn’t as
glamorous as writing video games, no, most of us develop accounting and
reporting software, and in my case, I also get to write healthcare
management and clinical data entry systems for a large pediatric
hospital. Most of my programs these days are web based but I still
write
in the BASIC language (mostly in Visual Basic and ASP.NET). Although,
by
day I code for work, but by night I code for fun. Yes, my best video
game memories of late have not been from playing games, but from
writing
them. Seems I have more fun writing games than playing them. Although I
have turned my basement into a collection of almost every computer and
game console ever created including several Arcade cabinet projects, I
keep thinking fondly of my first video game experiences and how they
inspired me into both my career and my hobby.

Anyway back to the point of my article. Over the years I have written
games that brought me back to some of my favorite experiences. Almost
every game I write has its roots in one of my all time 8-bit favorites.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, For example, My
first few games ‘The Dungeons of Grimlor’ 1 and 2, 1994 and ‘Solder
Runner’ 1995 were inspired by Richard Garroitt’s ‘Ultima III: Exodus’
1983. Later, my ‘A.I. Wars (The Insect Mind) ‘ 1996 was inspired by the
1989 C64 game called Omega Cybertank – Origin Systems, where you
programmed your own Artificial Intelligence and pitted it against
others. These were done in MS Quick Basic and Visual Basic and the
newer
A.I. Wars 3D elements were done in Dark Basic. Now I’m developing
freeware GameBoy Advance games in a language called Dragon Basic (with
the Nintendo DS being several years old, the older GameBoy Advance has
become another classic system from the past!) My two 2008 GBA games are
‘Pocket Commander’ inspired by Dan Bunten’s 1989 game called ‘Modem
Wars’ and ‘Pocket Raider’ inspired by Will Wrights’s 1984 game ‘Raid on
Bungling Bay’, I even hid an Easter egg in the game which was inspired
by Warren Robinett’s Atari 2600 game ‘Adventure’ – the first commercial
video game to hide a hidden screen giving credit to the programmer (At
the time Atari would not let their programmers take credit for their
work).

As you can see, I really love video games and their historical roots,
which is why I have been reading this newsletter ever since its first
issue! Like many of you I am a video game archeologist doing my best to
preserve and give credit to the original creators of our favorite
hobby.
With that said, I only have one more dedication to give. Thank you
Ralph
Baer for your work on creating the first home console prototype and for
inspiring Nolan Bushnell to take it to the next level with his ‘Pong’
and the formation of Atari!

You can get most of my games for free (Including Adventure Studio where
you can create your own ZORK type of text based adventure!) if you want
to play them for yourselves at TacticalNeuronics.com

Game Over

Thank you authors, and thank you the
readers come coming back every month to check us out! See you next
month!